Player, Art Thou Ready?
by dragonlordIV
Summary: Takashi Kirito was born a Gametar, a being born with the powers to live life like a video game. His life is paradise, or so it seems. When he finds a clue to an ancient prize Gametar's had been searching for 30 years, his world turns upside down. Can he win the ancient prize before anyone else does, or will he be forced to zero out and start from scratch? (Note: Lots of odd shit)
1. Chapter 1

**I apologize for my lack of writing, I felt like crap after seeing your comments. So, I calmed myself down and decided to start from scratch. Please don't hate me for ending my current stories soon.**

Chapter One: A Born Gametar

I woke up with very bloodshot eyes this morning, I felt like a piece of crap. I decided to take a nice hot shower, I freakin' deserved it. As I got changed, my little brother, Kaneda, burst in.

"Come on big brother, mom says breakfast is ready."

I rush downstairs as my mom set some omelets on the table. I devoured them immediately, along with a bowl of _All Might Crunchies_ and a glass of milk. After wolfing my breakfast, I grabbed my bag and rushed for school. A menu screen appeared in front of me with the words '**TAKASHI, YOU ARE LATE FOR SCHOOL**'. I smiled, I loved my quirk, except it wasn't even a quirk.

About a few decades ago, long before I was born, a bioluminescent baby was born. Soon, many superpowers began appearing all over the globe. A new era had begun. These 'quirks' (as the public calls them) have been 80% of the world's population. The word superhero and villain were more common than before.

When I was born, I have gotten my powers a bit late, at age eight. I didn't tell my family, of course, no one would believe me if I told them my quirk was to live life like a video game. You see, I found out that my powers were not a quirk, but of what I am. I am a Gametar, an individual with the ability to live life just as any video game player would. With my mind, I can access a menu screen only I can see, and I can level up every time I do something important or do 'quests'. Eventually, I found out that I can visit other Gametars from other worlds, I made more friends that way. The best part of being a Gametar is the items and powers I gain. You see, I can get items from shops or from other worlds (including mine) which gave me abilities. I also unlocked different skills as I leveled up (the maximum being ∞, no Gametar has unlocked that level before). Even though I am already level 26 already, most respect you'll get is if you're level 100. Sometimes, I dream of winning the legendary prize many gametars dream of winning, the Orb-Cube of Vozah.

It was said in Gametar lore that an artifact forged by a deity that created the Gametar concept itself. The Orb-Cube of Vozah. It granted the user the Level of Infinity, as well as an ability, it is known as the Operator. The Operator granted the user to control everything for themselves. Immortality is included; along with so much knowledge, not even one billion dictionaries can hold it. The only clue that could even lead to a path to the Orb-Cube is this riddle discovered by a gametar 28 years ago:

**The Ancient Prize awaits the player**

**Games and challenges are in store**

**An artifact lost to time and space itself**

**To find such a gift must be detected among the anomalies**

**Where weird is gifted**

**Where power is common**

**The key to the answers will be revealed**

**All that was hidden shall be found**

**The solution is in front of thee**

**Among the quirkiness of the natural world**

**The End waits patiently for the Chosen First to discover the power**

**Deep within one's heart**

**The Heart of a Hero**

**So be prepared to face these straits and trials**

**The true treasure will be achieved by the highest scorer**

**Player...**

**Art Thou Ready?**

That day was when I first made a friend in my own world. You see, there is only one gametar per world, so there aren't other gametars really to talk with. His name was Izuku Midoriya. What I didn't know was that he was going to become the first non-Gametar (we call them Zemoes) to know about the Gametar world and culture. I was in the classroom packing my bags when I heard some muttering. I saw a green-haired boy packing his bags, his muttering seemed audible but unclear. I tapped his shoulder and he yelped. He turned to me.

"Who are you?"

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you buddy. I'm Takashi Kirito by the way."

"I-izuku Midoriya."

His voice seemed nervous and scared. We chatted a bit. Turns out we both liked heroes, our conversation was 20 minutes but it seemed like hours. Eventually, we gave each other our numbers and parted ways as friends. This was the first time I actually made a friend in my own world.

As I walked home from school, I looked at the menu screen in front of me. Kurobee, an 'ogre' from a different world was texting me:

**Kurobee: Where are you man? Come to the RC ASAFP! I got a new weapon for you.**

I smiled. I met Kurobee online 2 years ago. Even though he was way older than me, he became my best friend. I went through the menu until I found what I was looking for: a rubiks cube with a home symbol on it. I clicked it, and immediately disappeared.

I found myself in the Rubik's Core, the HQ of where all Gametars proceed to chat, hangout, or shop for items. I walked around until I found Kurobee's shop. I walked in as he was forging an axe.

"Leviathan Axe, _God of War: Norse Edition_, released April 20, 2018."

Kurobee looked up and smiled.

"Hey man, what's up. Almost done, wait right there, I'm almost done."

I walked to a row of chairs nearby, a few magazines were piled on a coffee table. I began reading a gaming magazine (on the topic of the Nintendo Switch System). When Kurobee stopped hammering, I put down the magazine and walked up to him.

"What up man, anyways, here's the weapon."

He held up a sword, I recognized it immediately.

"The Master Sword?"

"Legend of Zelda, used by Link to defeat Gannnondorf. Now can be used by you to take down any enemy, including God Leveled ones someday."

"Thanks dude. This might help me with The Quest."

The search for the Orb-Cube became known as The Quest. For 30 years, not a single sighting of any other clue for the artifact, only The Conundrum (the first riddle to the Orb-Cube) was any significance to the artifact's whereabouts.

"Hope you find it, we won't let the Botards find it."

"Hell no!"

The Botards were a clan of Gametars that plan to use the Orb-Cube in order to get rich off innocent ametars. Their leader is some dick wolf named Bogard. They were hated, and any Gametar of all levels would be treated like shit if they became a Botard.

"Well good luck man, what's our motto?"

"Onward to horizons beyond infinity."

"You did your homework. Well, see you later."

"See ya."

I immediately log out and found myself back in my own world. I check the time, I knew I had to go home. On my way over to my apartment, I heard an explosion. People's cries were heard. I rushed to the scene to find a one-way street in flames. A sludge like villain was taking over a guy with some sort of explosion quirk. I recognized him. Bakugo Katsuki from school. He was a jerk, but he didn't deserve this. The heroes can't seem to help him, plus, he seems to be holding on. Suddenly, I heard a scream. I then saw Izuku running towards the sludge villain. The heroes were yelling to stop him, but he didn't seem to listen. He managed to hold off the sludge villain, but the villain managed to get him too. I knew I had to do something, I rushed over myself.

"Kid?! You too?!" a Pro Hero exclaimed.

I switched on battle mode, which allowed my menu screen to be easily visible as I fight. I commanded the Master Sword to appear in my hand and slashed the villain with Link's iconic scream. The villain seemed surprised, but the battle wasn't over yet, he still had Izuku and Katsuki. I switched the Master Sword with the Omnitrix. It was a watch-like device I earned during a quest, and allowed me to turn into aliens for 5 minutes once a day. As it glowed on my wrist, a timer of 5 minutes was shown. I didn't waste time. I browsed all the aliens at my disposal and found the one I was looking for. I slammed the watch, and transformed into a humanoid of magma and flames. One of the first aliens Ben 10 (the protagonist who uses the omnitrix) transforms into. As Ben 10 does in the show, I yell the alien's hero name.

"Heatblast!"

I immediately start shooting flames at the villain, he didn't seem affected, just shocked. I switched to more aliens: Feedback, Gravattack, Water Hazard (which was a terrible idea), and Jury Rigg. Nothing. Then, I knew one alien that could help. I had 1 minute before the watch times out. I transformed into Terraspin, a sea turtle that can blow like a ginormous fan. But the watch timed out by the time the villain seemed like he was weak by my winds. Just in time. I switched back to the Master Sword and sliced the villain. But he didn't flinch. I tried to switch to a better weapon, but the villain grabbed me, my hands couldn't grasp any weapons. I felt like I was going to zero out (when Gametars get killed, we often had to reset to Level 1 and start over, that is something I couldn't afford to do). But as my hit-point bar slowly began to head into the red, All Might (the Number One Hero in Japan) came out of no where.

"I REALLY AM PATHETIC HUH!"

He seemed to be talking to someone.

"I GOTTA WATCH WHAT I PREACH! THE THING IS KID, WE PROS ARE OUT THERE SAVING LIVES AND RISKING OUR OWN FOR THE SAKE OF THE WORLD! DETROIT SMASH!"

His fist slammed on the ground destroying the sludge villain and creating a tornado. That tornado changed the weather, I was amazed. People cheered him. Afterwards, both me and Izuku got scolded while Katsuki got praised. When I got home, my mom ran to me crying like crazy.

"I was worried sick Takashi." she sobbed.

"Its okay, I'm here mom."

When I got to my room, I laid on my bed. I checked my menu screen and noticed my level changed. My eyes bulged seeing the new number in front of me. 104!? How!? Then I remembered the battle I had with the villain. It must've been a high level enemy, which gave me enough HP to level up, a lot! Thinking about the fight reminded me of heroes, heroes reminded me of The Conundrum. Wait a minute, what are anomalies where wierd is special and power is common? People with superpowers, most become heroes. There are a few worlds where almost everyone is a superhero. Mine is included. Then I remembered the word 'quirkiness' in The Conundrum, the first sign of the Artifact must be in my world! I felt excited, but I realized the first clue could be anywhere in my world. But then I remembered the last few lines in The Conundrum, 'The Heart of a Hero.' All Might had the most heart of a hero and where did he earn that: UA High School. Somewhere inside UA, there was the location of the first clue to the Orb-Cube. All I had to do was get in UA. But I heard that UA had tough security, there was only one way for me to get in, become a student. At this moment, I didn't know this, but my plans to get into UA High didn't only help me find the Artifact, it made me a pro hero that helped people. But my journey has only just begun, there are more dangers in my hunt, and villains aren't the only ones.

_(To Be Countinued)_

**DONE! I hope you'll like this. I based this story on Ernest Cline's novel **_**Ready Player One**_**. Kurobee comes from the anime: **_**That Time I Reincarnated As A Slime**_**. Chapter Two coming soon (PROMISE)! P.S. Enjoy all the references in this chapter. Anticipate the more references coming soon! BYE!**

**DragonLoreXIV OUT!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright then! Resuming the story!**

Chapter Two: Tests, Lessons, and Festivals

I stared at the building of UA High School, the possible hiding place of the first clue. I felt a bit excited, my mom even agreed to let me go to UA, hope I don't worry her. Anyways, the ceremony was very weird. Pro Hero Present Mic was to lead the Orientation, but he seemed more like the guy to party than get kids hyped for school. He was loud, and a very high, like he just sniffed 300 sugar packets of cocaine. After we finished the written portion, I was assigned to Area B. I had been training for the past 10 months, so hopefully it pays off. The goal was to defeat as much robots as possible and get lots of points.

"AND START!" Present Mic yelled.

I ran using one of my favorite enchanted clothing: Sonic's Sneakers. From the game _Sonic the Hedgehog_, the shoes allow me to get a maximum speed of Mach 1, this helped defeat many robots. The shoes also allow Sonic's famous spin dash attack, which gave me 50 points. Not bad. I also used the Master Sword to slice more robots, increasing my score to 83 points, it felt like I was in an arcade video game, with only one life and one credit. Then, as my score changed to 145 (I wanted to see if I can reach a score of 300), I felt a rumble. I looked, and saw the zero pointer. The zero pointer (accorading to Present Mic) was to be avoided at all costs, I could see why. I understand there can be giant villains, but why send a fake one (which could still cause destruction) for students to fight. Most of the other students ran for it, but there were some under rubble that can't escape. I then heard someone jump. It felt like the wind was following this person. There, from the corner of my eye, was Izuku. He had somehow jumped so high, he was getting close to the zero-pointer. I checked the power scanner, and saw power flow in his arm, but hold on a second, it's too much, it could break his arm. Just as I perdicted, as he puched the zero pointer, his arm broke. I quickly put on some angel wings and managed to grab him.

"Are you okay?"

"It's you. Takashi, right?"

Suddenly, a piece of metal broke one of my wings and we were falling once again. Then, a girl slapped me and Izuku's faces, we stopped, midway from being crushed by the impending ground.

"R-r-realease." she said, her fingertips falling apart.

We finished our fall and crashed in the ground.

"TIMES UP!" yelled Present Mic.

I smiled, hopefully I can make it right?

I did, during dinner one night, my mom showed me the letter from the school. I found out that All Might was to teach, I got in, and I have the highest score: 1000 pts. Apparently, my attempt to rescue Izuku gave me rescue points, which were not mentioned.

"I PASSED!" I yelled.

My mom was so happy, she took me and Kaneda out for ice cream to celebrate. As I ate my sundae of victory, I realized one thing: I was going to be able to search the school for the first clue! This was it.

I quickly found General Studies, even though I had passed, they had no idea what my powers were, so they put me in General Studies. I didn't care if I was assigned the Support Group, I was ready to find the first clue. I opend my journal (which I called my Captain's Log after _Star Trek_) and looked at the school map I wrote which was personally labelled with possible hiding spots for the clue. I muttered while at it.

"Hey, nice drawing." a voice said.

I looked up to only find myself facing a boy with purple hair and a tired expression. He reminded me of Bernard, an elf who was always an insomniac.

"Thanks. I'm Takashi Kirito."

"Hitoshi Shinso, so what's with the drawing of the school?"

"Oh, to um, prepare myself to get to my classes."

"Ooookay." said Shinso, a bit unsure.

The rest of the day felt pretty normal for a high school of superheroes, but I hadn't mind. During breaks, I would turn the school upside down, and still nothing, even after avoiding all those teachers. During lunch one day, I heard from a guy from Hero Course Class 1-B that Class 1-A was involved in a villain attack. I felt a bit of sympathy. Days had passed, and still nothing. Then, I found the answer, right when the Sports Festival began.

The Sports Festival was where students from the Hero Course get to show off to other heroes in order to get internship requests. Some General Studies students can even get a chance to join the Hero Course. I felt like shit that day. Still no sign of the clue's location. As I prepared for the Sports Festival (it wasn't optional), I cheered myself up a bit, maybe I can have some fun. As we got into the stadium, thousands of people cheered us on. Our First Year ref, Midnight (who was wearing very Rated R Clothing for high school students), announced this years First Year rep.

"Takashi Kirito!"

What!? But then I remembered I got the highest score. People were whispering about me.

"What? He got the highest score?"

"Isn't he a General Studies student?"

"I heard his quirk was so unknown, that the school put him in General Studies."

"Man, that's tough."

As I walked to the stand, I cleared my throat. I couldn't figure out what to say, but then I remembered this one speech I saw during a binge watch of _Independence Day_.

"Hello everyone, I am going to keep this brief. Even though I am in General Studies, I would like to say to everyone to try their best no matter what. We all deserve to shine no matter how hard. So as President Whitmore from America once said, 'We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive!' Thank you. PLUS ULTRA!"

"PLUS ULTRA!" the students respond.

Everyone clapped and cheered me, I never felt so much relief. Midnight then took over and told us to get into the hallway in the stadium. I walked in the crowded hallway. I spotted Shinso and Izuku in the crowd. Then, Midnight announced that we will be having an obstacle race. I want to make it quick, so, I activated the Atomic Puppet. From the Netflix show _Atomic Puppet_, an AI puppet will be in hand and allow me to be able to fly at very fast speeds, plus a radioactive trail behind me. As Midnight yelled to start. I put on the puppet (with costume option turned off), yelled the phrase 'It's Atomic Time!', and jumped to take off. Only to find my feet glued to a frozen floor. I boy with ice powers had froze the entire floor, some students managed to escape. Then, I heard clanking. A bunch of villain-mock robots were on the attack. I knew I had to get ahead, the robots can be a use to me. I focused, and yelled from the depths of my heart.

"ATOMIC THUNDERCLAP!"

My speed quickly increased, my feet broke free, and I was a speeding comet of atomic energy. All the robots were impaled my punch, I believe thunderclaps were heard.

"HOLY SMOKES! KIRITO HAD JUST IMPALED ALL THOSE ROBOTS AS IF THEY WERE NOTHING!"

The ice boy and an Bakugo (who had managed to escape the ice boy's frozen floor) were shocked to see me rocket past. Suddenly, I heard a yelp, it sounded like Izuku. I flew to where the sound was, and saw Izuku buried under a pile of metal, a stoik boy in glasses and a bubbly brunette girl attempted to help him. I quickly flew in and lifted the metal. Thanks to the Atomic Puppet, my strength increased dramatically.

"Are you okay?"

"I think my ankle is broken."

"Midoriya, let me help you."

"No Iida, I'll only slow you guys down."

"Don't worry Deku, we'll find a way."

"Get on my back."

They all stared at me.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"But…"

"No time Izuku!"

I quickly grabbed him and lifted him on my back.

"Takashi, you don't have to…"

"Hold on tight, I know this sounds confusing right now, but trust me, this is about to get really fast."

"But...Wait, what was that last part?"

"ATOMIC MISSILE!"

"What are yo-aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

His screams could be heard everywhere is I sped up in the air. I quickly activated a wind resistant item on him and myself. He was surprised to not feel the wind.

"So," he finally said after 30 seconds of silence, "this is your quirk?"

I laughed, "Oh this? Well, it's going to be hard to explain. We'll talk about this later."

I dived in the entryway to the finish line and stopped in the middle.

"Why are we stopping?"

"We're going to finish the race without quirks, together."

Izuku smiled, and I walked him over to the finish line. The crowds went wild.

"THIS IS CRAZY FOLKS, BOTH TAKASHI AND MIDORIYA TAKE FIRST PLACE! WHEN HAS THIS HAPPENED FOLKS!?"

I handed Izuku a potion bottle of HealPo (Healing Potion). I told him to drink it and it should heal his ankle. He thanked me. Then, I thought about something, the Conundrum. A line in the Conundrum mentioned 'Straits and Trials', then it hit me. In UA, the challenges in the Sports Festivals are full of trials which lead to starting your hero career. The first clue is in the stadium! Then Midnight announced our next challenge: a Cavalry Battle.

(To be Continued)

**Well, looks like we found the first clue. Coming up, Takashi finds new friends in high places, literally. Also, I have another fanfic coming up, it's called **_**ADVENTURERS**_**. It takes place in the world of Fairy Tail where a group of guys get turned into their D&D characters with only their Dungeon Master as support. They join Fairy Tail claiming they come from the lost continent of Arcadia. Technically, this is a Fairy Tail Dungeons & Dragons crossover. See you later.**

**DragonLoreXIV**


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